I have never felt more drained or excited in my life. We were out of the house by 6:45 in a frenzy of stuff-grabbing and double-checking. We ended up being one of the first people to get there, which meant the entire football team was on hand to unload the car in a frenzy of shouting and 6 foot tall guys lugging my boxes around. But the chaos only lasted a minute, and then I was left by myself (everyone else went to move the car) and stare at my room. More specifically, the bunk beds pushed near the window instead of the futon-like beds I was expecting. I only came out of my shock when the RA stuck her head in and told me that Chloe (my roommate) and I had the only room in the entire building like that. She hadn’t even known until earlier that morning. And so the next few hours dissolved into confusion. The top bunk had no railings and was almost a foot away from the wall: neither of us wanted to sleep up there. But the room isn’t big enough for two twin beds, two desks, two closets, and two surprisingly huge dressers. It turned out to be an impossible jigsaw puzzle that was only solvable if we removed a piece. Luckily, and kindly, Chloe decided that she didn’t need a dresser. We ended up with an arrangement both of us are really happy with!

After that turmoil, I’m not really sure what we did. My parents went home while Chloe’s stayed and help her settle in. After some stuff that fell into the black hole in my brain, we headed out to the first of many many ceremonies.

The Opening Ceremony was full of speeches from the mayor, police chief, university president, and many others. Afterwards they herded us all out onto the brand new football field for an hour of talking to random people for fifteen seconds, otherwise known as “ice-breakers”. But they were all fun until the last game. I don’t know if any of you have heard of Dance Commander, but it is probably the most awkward thing it do. You form up into groups of six, assign each person a number, and when that number is called, you have to lead the group in dancing for at least a minute. It was exhausting, hot, and beyond awkward. Everyone in my group (including me!) were bad dancers. So bad it’s not even funny bad. The random collection of music was entertaining though. Daft Punk, the Chicken Dance, Gangnam Style, Fall Out Boy, Rick Astley…

Afterwards, we went back into the gym (where the Opening Ceremony had been held) for the Dedication Ceremony, which was really emotional. The worship team (A guitar, singer, double bass, and drums- very different) led a few songs before the university pastor got up and spoke. This led into a time of prayer for the parents over their students. I’ll admit, I cried when my roommate’s parents prayed for me too. A few more songs concluded the ceremony.

There was a late night trip to Fred Meyer, but I sat that one out: I didn’t need anything, and I was already curled up on my bed when the shuttles left.

Today was a lot more relaxed. After breakfast, we had a student life seminar (information about community life) before the rest of the parents were sent away. Our First Year Seminars met this afternoon for the first time, going over the basics of the class and doing yet more icebreakers. But that was it for the afternoon! Tomorrow is another long day, so the evening off is welcome (plus you guys get a blog post).

There’s been a lot of talking going on, but one thing stood out to me. At our student life session this morning, one of the speakers said to “Go beyond Z” in reference to the Dr. Seuss book “Go Beyond Zebra”. Make your own way based on your experiences. Adapt to the world. Always been openminded.

Until next time!

(P.S- Website update)